American Go E-Journal

Team Los Angeles, captained by Andy Okun, will play Team Washington DC, led by I-han Lui, in the inaugural Pandanet AGA City League finals this Saturday at the U.S. Go Congress in Tacoma, WA.

Schedule: Saturday, August 3, 3:00 p.m. (PST): Beumgeon Cho vs Jie Li on Board 1 and Seung Hyun Hong vs Yuan Zhou on Board 3; at 8:30 p.m. (PST) Dae Hyuk (Daniel) Ko vs Eric Lui (Eric Lui is in Seoul Korea to play in the Samsung Cup preliminaries as a representative of the AGA. Due to this special circumstance, organizers, working with Myung-wan Kim 9P, arranged for a monitor for Eric and a place for him to play in Seoul at the KBA in Pro Room A). All games will be broadcast on IGS: Board 1 on on AGACL1; Board 2 (Daniel Ko vs Eric Lui) will be played directly against each other online; Board 3 will be broadcast on AGACL2.

Player Notes:Team Los AngelesBeungeum Cho was undefeated in League play with a score of 10-0. Started playing Baduk at the age of 8. When he was 13 he turned serious and attempted to become a professional Korean Baduk player. At the age of 18 he had to choose between becoming an Yeonguseng (Insei) at KBA and going to University. He decided to study English in school with an eye towards teaching Baduk internationally. He is now in Los Angeles teaching Baduk with Kim Myung-wan 9p.Dae Hyuk Ko learned Baduk at the age of 5 from his parents. He started actively playing at the age of 15. In 1998 he moved to the US to study English and go to college. In 2006, he joined the AGA and started playing in AGA Tournaments. His wins include the 2008 Korea Times Myung-In Championship in Los Angelese, 2009 Samsung North Americca qualifier, and 2010 the Cotsen Open in Los Angeles. Three time winner of the Santa Monica Cup.Seung Hyun Hong is substituting for Curtis Tang who was unable to make the finals. Seung Hyun starting playing Baduk at the age of 6 from his father a 10 kyu. In middle school, he was a Yeonguseng at KBA for one year. In 2006 he came in third place in the US Open. Seung Hyun is now focusing on teaching his daughter to play Baduk. She is 2 years old.

Team Washington DCJie Li has represented the United States nearly a dozen times in top international invitational championships, and has won 11 North American titles, 7 U.S. national titles, and 13 regional titles. Though not holding a professional certificate, he is one of the strongest go players in the United States, playing at an equal level with many American professionals and has earned the all-time-most North American and US titles combined.
Yuan Zhou 7D was born in Tianjin, China. His father taught him to play go at the age of six and he was twice invited to represent Tianjin in the All China Go Prodigy Cup. In 1989 Zhou immigrated to the USA, joined the American Go Association (AGA) and became a US citizen. Zhou was the president of the University of Maryland Go club, from which he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering, and became increasingly involved in AGA events, winning many go tournaments, including 30 U.S. go titles and has represented USA in international tournaments many times (WAGC, Korea Prime Minister Cup, World Pair Go Championship, etc). Zhou was also elected to be the AGA board of directors in 2005. Zhou is also a popular author, teacher and lecturer; he lives in Germantown, Maryland.Eric Lui achieved amateur one dan at the age of 6, representing the US internationally in Seoul, Korea a year later. To date, he has had about a dozen international representations to the World Youth Go Championship, WAGC, Korean Prime Minister Cup, World Student Go Oza, Pair Go, and the Samsung. Eric holds Japanese go in high esteem, citing Kobayashi Satoru and Takemiya Masaki among his favorite players. He also has great admiration for Ma Xiaochun and Yoo Changhyuk.